60 seconds with #FBC14 attendee Lou of Rise of the Sourdough

Welcome Lou the blogger behind Rise of the Sourdough Preacher (@sourdough_lou) joining #FBC14 from Switzerland! We’ve caught up with her to find out a little bit more before we all meet in June, here’s what she had to say!

Photograph by Flavia Leuenberger

Tell us about yourself and your blog!

I work part time as a goldsmith and occasionally collaborate with a weekly newspaper owned by Migros, one of Switzerland’s leading supermarkets. I am passionate about everything regarding food, art, culture and fashion. I love travelling. Once a week practice Wing Chun Kung Fu, it’s a nice discipline which has helped me mentally to, to be more flexible about things in life. I am currently considering collaborations to see whether I can make a living out of blogging and writing. I collaborate with a Mill nearby, writing recipes twice a month but look forward to find more collaborations.

Unfortunately too often in Italy brands/industry pay bloggers with products, which is good to an extent but doesn’t make a living. Brands should be more brave and invest in projects with bloggers. I have some very close fellow bloggers but the Italian scene can be quite depressing (being swiss italian my main focus is on Italy, the country from which I get more traffic) too many drama queens on one side and sometimes too many bloggers and lack of quality. Being a foodblogger seems to be the new rave, which is bad. People think more about posting tons of recipes and getting traffick rather than producing interesting recipes.

What motivated you to blog and how has blogging changed your life?

This is very cliché, I warn you! I started blogging after a few months unemployment and during my decision to get divorced. In fact I didn’t choose…a friend of mine noticed I was experimenting a lot with baking and suggested me to open a blog. I was skeptic, I’m not a shy one but I always found it quite uneasy to put myself out, to show the things I do. But then, after many difficulties (mainly opening the blog and getting it go…well…actually being able to post decent posts!) I felt relieved. Sharing, meeting fellow bloggers, it gave me more confidence, energy, focus. I would love to develop recipes, both for magazines and industry and maybe one day publish my own book.

What’s your signature dish?

My brioche recipe. I won a contest with this (the original filling was with chestnut and butternut squash but I think this pistachio version is very interesting) and landed me to “Azione” magazine. Here is the recipe http://wp.me/p3E1bj-n2

Well, bread on top of all Sourdough coming back, real bread campaigns So much to learn about doughs and ancient grains I am not a huge food trend follower, I usually follow my guts Must say I am quite fed up of cronuts and this sort of Frankenstein-esque trivialization of patisserie, food in jars, the whole american baking thing that has been going on in Italy in the past years (cake pops, cupcakes, red velvet and so on), kale, quinoa (after I read an article on The Guardian I stopped buying it Supperclubs, hopefully it’s just a beginning Matterhorn Glacier Paradise Restaurant, what a view! Best sushi I have eaten was in Berlin, but it wasn’t planned at all Middle Eastern cuisine, Parmigiana di melanzane, an Avocado field, a horrible dish called Pollo al cestello, or anything Swiss German (well almost everything, they do have a few nice dishes…a few…)

Who is your favourite celebrity chef and and who is your favourite food writer?

I love what Jamie Oliver has tried to do in the UK, even though I’m not sure wether it has really worked. Marchesa Luisa Casati, I bet she would have some very weird requests…a surreal dinner for sure! Should I count them now? Well a few, many british publications, being my mother from England Cranks (so nineties isn’t it?), Bread book by Linda Collister, Some God Food books, a lot of foreign cuisine (indian, japanese, chinese, middle eastern) Chocolate recipes books, have a few, a Cordon blue cuisine basics, Genoese recipes, many books about bread baking I usually nick some books from my mum and sister too A good cookbook should have all basic informations, with some basic knowledges and tips I hate when recipes are incorrect and an ingredient is missing in the description most recent book? Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread (the bible!)

To achieve a successful blog what comes first – the dishes, the styling, the photography or the words?

Good stories good pictures good ideas thinking out of the box inputs Food is the way I communicate best I bake a lot, and share bread and baked goods with friends and family. I bake more cakes and sweet recipes since the blog, I am not a great fan of sugars but I try to eat very little and give away a lot! I think a lot about the blog, recipes, new flavours. Blog and life are the same thing to me. I work a lot on my blog, mainly because it is both in italian and english and I always take great care that my texts are accurate, interesting, funny I am still learning photography, and it’s a skill I really look forward to improve. Of course dishes come first but I admit I usually skip recipes/blogs which are not well presented…it’s psychological I am naturally drawn to beautiful and balanced things Would say dish + words, photography and styling last (too much food styling tires me to bits…in the end all blogs look the same don’t they?)

What your favourite Kitchen Gadget

My newly purchased Kitchenaid and all gadgets for pasta making etc for Kitchen Aid

One Response to 60 seconds with #FBC14 attendee Lou of Rise of the Sourdough

O_o
I am quite verbose
I must admit when I filled the interview I hadn’t understood it would go online, was sleep deprived and quite stressed
Typing errors and lack of punctuation marks make it quite difficult to believe I own a little part of my living writing for a paper and translating
But the pic is awesome isn’t it?
Thank you FBC
Lou

FBC15 Information

Request Information

Our Mission

To connect food bloggers and food industry folks, helping to create a community that inspires and nurtures creativity, innovation & professionalism.

Food Blogger Connect (FBC), founded in 2009, is the world’s leading international food blogging conference bringing together award-winning, high-profile, guest speakers and attracting bloggers and industry folk from all over the world, making it unique in its international scope.

Stay Connected!

Don't miss a single post! Subscribe for all the latest conference news and happenings in the FBC community.

Food Blogger Connect is the trading name of Blogger Connect Limited. Blogger Connect Limited is a Limited Company registered in England and Wales with registered number 08924221